Pope Francis gestures as he leaves after the weekly general audience in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican November 15, 2023. Portal/Remo Casilli ACQUIRES LICENSE RIGHTS
VATICAN CITY, Nov 15 (Portal) – The Vatican has confirmed a ban on Catholics becoming Freemasons, a centuries-old secret society that the Catholic Church has long viewed with hostility and is estimated to have up to six million members worldwide.
“Active membership in Freemasonry by a believer is prohibited due to the incompatibility between Catholic teaching and Freemasonry,” the Vatican Magisterium said in a letter published by Vatican media on Wednesday.
The department, known as the Dicastery of the Doctrine of the Faith, issued its Nov. 13 statement, countersigned by Pope Francis, in response to a bishop from the Philippines who was alarmed by the growing number of Freemasons in his country.
The same office said last week that transgender people can be baptized, serve as godparents and act as witnesses at Catholic weddings.
The letter about Freemasons quoted a 1983 statement signed by the late Pope Benedict “Not allowed to receive Holy Communion.”
Masonic lodges are typically all-male societies associated with arcane symbols and rituals. They have also sometimes been linked to conspiracy theories alleging undue influence on world events.
According to the United Grand Lodge of England, modern Freemasonry is “one of the oldest social and charitable organizations in the world,” rooted in the traditions of medieval stonemasons.
The group claims to have 180,000 male members, two parallel female lodges in England have a further 5,000 members, and worldwide Masonic membership is estimated at around six million.
It lists the late Queen Elizabeth’s husband Prince Philip, former Prime Minister Winston Churchill, the late actor Peter Sellers, former England football manager Alf Ramsey and authors Rudyard Kipling and Arthur Conan Doyle as famous Freemasons of the past.
Reporting by Alvise Armellini, Editing by Nick Macfie
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